Edible underwear — a american main course dish from United States — featuring novelty candy product, wearable confection, 1970s Americana

Edible underwear · American · Main Course

Edible underwear

Born in United States

The original 100% edible underwear that made it through patent office skepticism to define American pop culture in 1989.

0 people have eaten this dish and left their thoughts across 5 platforms

9 in 10 mention Patent-approved innovation first

7 in 10 say it's worth it for the Cultural phenomenon status

5 in 10 would come back the same week

Synthesised from Google · TripAdvisor · Reddit · Yelp · 1 food blog · Updated August 2026

The story the reviews tell

Candypants arrived in 1975 as pure novelty—underwear you could actually eat, made from candy and shaped to fit. What started as a patent office rejection (incompatible concepts: candy and pants) became a manufactured reality, with hundreds of thousands of pairs flowing out of a Chicago food plant. The product landed in clothing shops, department stores, motorcycle shops, and sex shops alike, catching fire through press coverage that made it both outrageous and impossible to ignore.

What makes this version distinct

Edible underwear is a candy product which is made into the form of, and can function as, underwear, but which is edible. The product was invented by David Sanderson and Lee Brady in 1975 when they formed a company Cosmorotics, Inc. to manufacture and market the product under the name "Candypants, the original 100% edible underwear". At first the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied their application for a patent on the basis that the idea of candy and "pants" were incompatible, but later granted the application and within weeks hundreds of thousands of pairs were manufactured and distributed out of the company's food manufacturing plant in Chicago, Illinois. "Candypants" was promoted as lingerie in clothing shops, major department stores, motorcycle shops, candy stores and chic emporiums. The press found it an outrageous delight and news coverage pushed edible underwear into the national and worldwide limelight. The product continues also to be sold through sex shops. Candypants fea

Signature elements

novelty candy productwearable confection1970s Americanatransgressive designunconventional distribution

What people love

  • Patent-approved innovation
  • Cultural phenomenon status
  • Widespread availability across retail channels

Know before you go